Thursday, December 6, 2012

Are You Too Busy for Divine Appointment?

Are You Too Busy for a Divine Appointment?
On another Sabbath he went to the meeting place and taught. There was a man there with a
crippled right hand. The religion scholars and Pharisees had their eye on Jesus to see if he
would heal the man, hoping to catch him in a Sabbath infraction. He knew what they were up
to and spoke to the man with the crippled hand: “Get up and stand here before us.” He did.
Then Jesus addressed them, “Let me ask you something: What kind of action suits the
Sabbath best? Doing good or doing evil? Helping people or leaving them helpless?”
He looked around, looked each one in the eye. He said to the man, “Hold out your hand.”
He held it out—it was as good as new! Luke 6:6-10

I love so many things about this passage of scripture in Luke, especially at this time of year.
It reminds me of the following:

Jesus was specifically going to the synagogue to teach, but took the time to pay
attention to someone in need.

Jesus knew that “all eyes were on him” and chose to meet the need instead of what
was expected.

I recently read an article about how there’s a certain part of our brain (orbital prefrontal
cortex) that is largely responsible for our social skills and networking. In other words, God
made us to be in relationships with each other. Paul tells us that “We are therefore Christ’s
ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us” (2 Corinthians 5:20).
In a hurry to pick up a tray of snacks from Publix to deliver to Clay Elementary, God
placed a lady from the bakery in my path that needed His love and care. When I first walked
up to the deli, the lady from the bakery acknowledged my presence and told me that someone would be with me in a minute. My response to that kind of
statement is usually, “No problem, I stopped being in a hurry
several years ago.” Most of the time, that always prompts a
question like, “How did you do that”? or “I wish my life
would slow down!” Clearly, this lady was in emotional pain
because her response was out of the ordinary, “Please, you’re
going to make me cry”. (I could see that tears were welling up
in her eyes.) I asked her what was going on. She proceeded to
tell me all the problems and issues that she and her family had
faced the last six months, capped off by how she had just come
from the ER where her husband had spent the night only to be
diagnosed with Diabetes. At that point, I knew that it was no
accident that I was there and that God was in our midst. I told
her that I was a believer in the power of prayer and asked if I
could say a prayer with her about those things she had shared.So, right there at the deli counter in Publix, we prayed. I had a business card that I left and
told her that she could call me anytime if she needed to talk or wanted to pray.

Dear Lord,
Thank you for creating each of us to be Your ambassador to the hurting world. Through the
power of the Holy Spirit that lives within each of us, give us the wisdom to know those
moments during our day when we need to stop and offer Your love to those in need. You are Emmanuel, God with us. Amen